Philadelphia 76ers comeback would rank as best ever

View full sizeAP Photo | TOM MIHALEKAndre Iguodala tugs at his shorts during the Philadelphia 76ers' 100-94 loss to the Miami Heat in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference playoff series Thursday.

Warning: This will sound delusional. History indicates it probably is.

Just for the sake of argument, though, if the Philadelphia 76ers were to do the impossible and come back from their current 3-0 deficit to the Miami Heat and win this best-of-seven playoff series, it would rank as the greatest comeback ever in the four major sports.

Really.

The Sixers host the star-studded Heat on Sunday one game from elimination. For all the praise the Sixers received this year after last season's debacle, a clean sweep from the postseason could wipe away all that hard-earned good will with the fans.

These Sixers are not those Flyers, however, which makes a comeback improbable -- and that much more impressive if it does happen.

The 2010 Boston Bruins were a formidable team with defending Norris Trophy winner Zdeno Chara and goalie Tuukka Rask (who had supplanted defending Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas), coached by reigning Jack Awards Award winner Claude Julien. But that trio was hardly anything compared to LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. "Miami Thrice" was so confident, it held a championship ceremony before this season started.

And though the Flyers' comeback was memorable, it was not unprecedented. Two NHL teams had recovered to win after losing the first three games of a best-of-seven series before the Flyers did it last spring.

In the NBA, it's never happened. Only one team -- the 2003 Portland Trail Blazers -- has ever really gotten close.

The postseason comeback most people remember is the 2004 Boston Red Sox, who wiped out the New York Yankees' 3-0 lead in the American League Championship Series en route to their first World Series title in 86 years. But the baseball postseason is a different animal. Only four teams per league make it in, as opposed to more than half the league in the NBA. As a result, even the underdogs in the baseball playoffs are closer to the elites.

Despite what appear to be a few lopsided series, these NBA playoffs have been immensely entertaining for anyone who's been watching. Two out of three Sixers-Heat games have been competitive. The Pacers and Bulls have played to the final possession in nearly every one of their four games. The Knicks, now doomed by injuries, were within two boneheaded plays of winning Games 1 and 2 against the Boston Celtics.

Just being competitive is not the same as winning, though. The Sixers have to win one before they can win four.